Gavin unpacks Philippians 3:13 using the metaphor of an elevator as life's tight spaces. He argues believers need "liberating amnesia"—forgetting past sins and limits—and "lethal aptitude" to press forward. Like steel forged by heat and hammering, trials refine faith and equip us to rise.
Chapters
Anyone halfway interested in hearing what God has to say today? Amen. There's an exegetical invitation I want to extend to you. Pray that you accept. You've been invited to fellowship with me the prison epistle of Philippians. Paul's letter to the church at Philippi while in prison. We know that's the book of Philippians chapter number 3. Philippians chapter number 3. I bought a, a new durag this week. I'm gonna see if that's gonna give me some preaching power this morning. I saw a few extra waves this morning from my new durag. I'm gonna see if I can preach like I got some waves this morning. Philippians chapter number 3. Reading King James this morning. Philippians chapter number 3. Want to begin the reading at verse number 13. Word of God reads: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of a high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You may be seated.
Right.
If God will help me, I want to preach a few moments from this thought: the audacity to aspire. The audacity to aspire. This week, spent a few days in buildings with elevators. And while in the elevator, one particular elevator preached to me. Tony, so glad to see you. It was a tight, confined place. However, in that tight, confined place, which is kind of uncomfortable— you can't stretch much, you can't move much, you can't bring too many things in the elevator with you— but if you are on an operable elevator. You can push a button and go up. Something about pushing a button, seeing the floor light up, and me having the ability to go up suggested something to me that is so inspiring that I gotta preach it to you this morning.
That even though you may be in a tight, uncomfortable place, because there's power inside of you, your confinement does not stop you from elevating. Y'all gonna make me preach too hard today because many of us today may find yourself in an uncomfortable, tight place. You're in a hurry to get out of it. You want to rush out of it because it's tight, uncomfortable, and you don't have access to everything that you would have if you were out of it. But can I give you some good news today? That while you are in the tight place, you have power in the tight place. And if you don't let the tight place discourage you, you have a power that will help you elevate. And, and I think that I need to make sure that you understand that, because the devil will try to use tight places to keep your mind and your spirit constricted. But God's word today is that even in your tight place, you have access to a power that will give you the ability to rise even though you may be confined. And child of God, that's good news in this day in which we live in. Where there are so many things that are uncomfortable and unfavorable. But the good news in the midst of it all is that thanks be to God that I have access in the tight place, and God can take me higher while I am in it. Will y'all come with me this morning to Philippians chapter 3? After I had my elevator preached to me, I got a call from Paul. I said, hello, this is Gavin. Paul said, Gavin, I've heard so many great things about you. I said, Paul, this is not about me. Why did you call me? Paul said, I'm glad you asked, because we quote this scripture and many people know what the scripture says. They know that I said that I'm forgetting those things that are behind me and reaching forward to those things which are before me. And they read where they— I said that I press towards the mark. It sounds good to them, Gavin. It sounds real churchy, but the people of God know what I said. But Paul told me, he said, Gavin, tell them not only what I said, but tell them where I said it at. I, I purposely introduced this book this morning as a prison epistle, which means that Paul was in prison when he wrote it. Paul was in prison for doing what God called him to do. They put him in prison to shut him up. But while he was in prison, Paul had the audacity to say that you can lock me up, but while I'm locked up, I still have power to elevate. Who am I talking to today? Life has happened to you. Things have happened that are upsetting you. Things are happening that have made you uncomfortable. But I triple dog dare you on this 4th Sunday in October with your pink on to say that God has given me the audacity to aspire for a better life even though I'm in an uncomfortable place. I know that it does feel good. I know that you're ready to get out of it, but until God lets you get out of it, still keep on pressing, keep on going higher, keep on going deeper in God, keep on seeking God more. And simply because God is in there with you lets you know that God can take you higher while in it. Somebody this morning may be sick, but don't let your sickness stop you from going higher. Somebody may be in a financial strain this morning, but while you're in your financial strain, God can still give you elevation. Somebody this morning is on that same job that you've been on for years and you still have not got a promotion. But let me give you some good news, that if you have not gotten elevation on that job, you can have elevation in the spirit of God. And if God be for you, who can be against you? And I dare somebody today to make up in their mind that on October the 26th, from this day forward, no matter where I'm at, I am going to keep on pressing for more of what God has called for me to have in my life. I know that you may want to get stuck here, but for me and my house, I'm going higher with God. My praise is going to get better, my worship is going to get better, I'm going to pray harder, I'm going to give more, I'm going to be more anointed. And even before I get out God's gonna get in and take me higher while I'm in it. And here is my thesis for this morning. I'm doing good, I'm only at 6 minutes. Here's my thesis: that a Spirit-filled life comes with the audacity to climb in what you've been confined in. I told y'all I got a new durag and y'all still looking at me like I'm ugly. I'll say it again: a spirit-filled life comes with the audacity to climb in what you've been confined in. In other words, some of us on October the 26th may still be confined in what we were in on January 1st, but while you are in that same confinement, God has given you the ability to keep on climbing and stretching and reaching. So today is your day to get your energy back and your strength back to climb with God. See, see, that's all I came to preach today. I hope y'all want to hear what else I got to say. Let me unpack this luggage. And found in this luggage, I have two hermeneutical highlights. I'm going to unpack them and give them to you. I think I might actually go down 167 South this morning. This text teaches us something unique. About liberating amnesia. There is a, a such thing as a liberating amnesia, beloved. With a Spirit-filled life, we have been graced by God to be loosed from shackles of our own mental limitations. God has been so good to us that if we access it, we will discover that God has not only freed us from sin But God has freed us from our mind. Paul says, forgetting those things which are behind me. Now, in order to understand this text, you must not isolate it, but you have to put it in context with this whole paragraph of the letter. Paul is encouraging this church at Philippi telling that they were not born Jewish, so to speak, but he's encouraging them about their freedom in Christ. Paul says that before I became the man that you see today, I was a Jew of the Jews. I was circumcised on the 8th day. I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. I was not just a half exerciser of the law, but I was a Pharisee. And I was doing all of the right things, but I did not understand that there was something better than what I was doing. And how many of us today are imprisoned not just about doing the wrong things, but many of us have been confined by things that we think are right but are not necessarily right. Because when Paul was a Pharisee He was guilty of doing church work. Paul was guilty of condemning people for what he thought was the right thing to do. Can I liberate somebody today? Thanks be to God that he has mercy on us, because many of us do the right thing but for the right— wrong purpose. Oh, goodness gracious, Gavin, our head. How much of our religious exercise is done simply because we think that's the way God wants to do it? How bound are we this morning behind churchology and churchism and traditionism and our own opinionism, and we are so stout in what we know that we are not open to what God wants to do. Gavin, why is it so important that you bring this out to the congregation in which you serve? It's important as the pastor to make sure we understand that, because if you are here chances are you are already saved. Chances are. So therefore, I kind of perceive and I discern in my study that when we hear this text, we automatically put ourselves in a mentality of, well, I put the bottle down, I put them cigarettes down, I ain't been to a club in 20 years. Last night I went to bed at 6 o'clock and I was reading my daily bread before I went to bed, so this does not apply to me because I don't need to forget those things. But God says the challenge for people who know God is that they think that they know all of God. Sit with it, sit with it, sit with it. It'll taste good in a while. Just because we've been with God for a while does not mean that we have God all figured out. And Paul in this text is teaching us that I was right, but I was wrong because I was stuck in what I thought God wanted. But God liberated my mind and showed me there was There's more to life than what I thought. Child of God, how dare we put God in a box based upon what goes on between these two ears. God is so much bigger than our interpretation. He's bigger than our own theology. He's bigger than our doctrine. He's bigger than our preferences. And so God has not only graced us to be with him, but God has graced us to free us from what we thought about him. Uh, there's so much more to God than what we think. And I, I can't speak for you, but I can speak for myself. I'm in a moment and phase in my life where I'm so open to what God wants to do because God is a progressive God, and I'm a halfway baked Gavin, which means that I know in part. I don't know everything I'm supposed to know, but as I stay with God, God gives us revelation. And that's why God wants to free his church across the world from the spirit of being bored with God, because we become bored with God because we think that we got God figured out. Can I see? I promise I plan on being moved from this point by now, but there's a spirit— thank you, Holy Spirit, talk, talk like God told you to talk, Gabby— there's a spirit of boredom when it comes to worship. And the reason for that is because we put limitations on God based upon what we think. And God has wanted to show us new. He's wanted to do new in our life, but we've kept God based upon our preference and our limited thinking. You know what else we guilty of in this house? When we hear this passage and we hear about being liberated, amnesia, forgetting those things which are behind me, We limit this to those who are youthful. Stay with me, going to taste good in the mouth. Some of us, when we hear this passage, I remember when I was young, such and such and such, such, such, such, such. I remember when I was younger, such and such, such and such. When I was younger, I wish I could tell these young boys now I wish I could tell these young girls now, come here, come here, come here. But when God converted Saul, Saul was grown. Nice socks, Mills. Saul was grown and experienced. But even though Saul was grown and experienced, God still broke in and developed and changed his mind. I don't know what senior citizen I'm talking to in the house. I don't know what adult I'm talking to in the house. I don't know what experienced Christian I'm talking to, but I got a word for you: be open to God, because God can change grown folk just like he can change children. We so worried about God working in the children's mind, and God said, can I work in your mind too? Can I change your mind too? Can I open your mind too? And when I open your mind, I open your child's mind, because you will be an example of what God can do in grown folks with your grown self. And when we're open to God, even with experience, God can take us from good to great. What do I mean? Because before this, Paul only dealt with law. Paul dealt with only Old Testament. He only dealt with his interpretation of law. Jesus had, had come died, been buried, and resurrected by this time. Jesus had gotten up and ascended to the Father, but Paul was still stuck in something old. But one day on the Damascus Road, God blessed Paul with some liberating amnesia. And because of God liberating him that day, we now have nothing shall separate us from the love of God. Because God liberated Paul as an adult, we now have all things work together for the good. Because of what God did for a grown, experienced man, we now have I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If it had not have been for what God did for Paul, would none of us have access because we will be bound into something old. But thanks be to God, God can take you from good to better if you be open, even with your grown self. I wish somebody who's been with God a long time today, somebody who's got arthritis and you on all type of medicine and you think you're in your sunset years— you may be in your sunset years, but the sun can still shine on you. In your sunset years. So put some pep in your step, because if God wanted to call you home, he would have called you a long time ago. But because God got you here, he's still working on you. Time forward, time forward. It's attributed— he's accredited for saying this. Dr. Mason, we don't know scholastically that he really said it. I wish I could prove that he said it because I'm gonna preach with more confidence anyway, uh, but we'll check here if he really said it later on. Tom Ford— whoo, listen to this, gonna bless you— Tom Ford is accredited for saying this quote: if it were up to the people We would just have faster horses. Come here, come here. Ford, y'all know that he developed automobiles. Up until Ford, people will own horses and buggies. And all people were exposed to at that time were horses and buggies. It was good, but it wasn't the best. But it took somebody having a mind to go beyond where they've been to see where God can take them. And that's a word for somebody. God wants to take you beyond fast horses. God wants to take you to an engine. God wants to take you to a motor. That way you can go to thousands of miles within a few hours, as opposed to waiting on your horse. How many of us today are only waiting for fast horses, where God is desiring to give you an automobile? And God is challenging me to make sure that you, Gavin, don't just settle for fast horses. He's making sure that I do my best to lead this ministry to where we don't just want fast horses, but we want the next thing that God is doing that's going to be better even when it's uncomfortable.
Y'all didn't like that like I thought you was gonna like it.
Maybe I need to go get me a new durag today. We have liberating amnesia. When I'm about done, God also gives us lethal aptitude. He gives you an aptitude that's powerful and lethal. Where is Paul at? He's already had— I mean, he's got those things. He's forgetting those things with the past, which means— here it is, you're gonna miss this point— forgetting, which means there's a constant sanctifying battle, which means you get it today, it's gonna be some old ways trying to get you back tomorrow. So he said, I'm forgetting those things, which means that it's still in my mind. But what I can recall doesn't restrict me, which means he's let it go. I can recall it, but I'm not a victim of it. I can recall it, but I'm not bound by it. So I can be free and unrestricted from what tried to restrict me. But in this lethal aptitude, with this ability, reaching forward What's before? I press. It's a metaphor. Paul is speaking to this group because they're in a Greek, Greco-Roman society, and they're familiar with athleticism, they're familiar with races, they're familiar with competition. So this verse, Paul is metaphorically comparing this to a race. I'm reaching forward to what's before. Y'all see that? I'm reaching forward to what's before. Let me lose my left hand. I'm reaching forward to what's before. I'm in prison, but I'm reaching. I'm supposed to be restricted. But I'm reaching. I'm supposed to be shouting, but I'm reaching. Here it is: even though life tried to bind me, God still gave me the ability to move. I'm in a tight place. I'm shackled on Earth, but in the spiritual realm, I'm still reaching. I'm still able to move. Here it is, here it is, here it is. God gives us the ability to show the enemy that what he did didn't work because I'm still moving. Here's the point of it. Here's the point of it. Paul in prison has the audacity to climb in what he was supposed to confine him. And you know why he's able to do it? Because I worked hard on this for the last 4 days. Paul teaches us that you can be mobile even when life is messy. Did you like it? Did you like it? Did you like it? They didn't like it. Say it again, Gavin. Paul teaches us in this text that even though my life is a mess, I can still be mobile. Can I survey the room this morning? Because I see some people who are alive but you're not mobile. Now, I don't know what type of mess you might be in this morning, but tell the devil that I'm still mobile because I'm able to lift up my hands. I'm still able to shout hallelujah. I'm still able to dance. I'm still able to preach. I'm still able to love my neighbor because when life got messy, God kept me mobile. Who am I talking to? That the more mess tries to come in your life, God just keeps you moving. The more mess tries to keep you stuck, God just lets you move on. I'm able to reach forward even though I'm restricted. Don't you let your restriction stop you from reaching. Y'all know what else it says? I'm reaching forward. You know why Paul has to reach forward? Because he's tempting sometimes to reach back. I'm gonna go to preaching class tonight because y'all ain't with me this morning. I gotta reach forward because if I don't use my energy reaching forward, I will look back and get comfortable and try to reach back. But the grace is I use my mobility to go to what God has next. I don't care what happened in my past. I'm not worried about it. I'm not worried about them because my tomorrow is so much better than my yesterday. So wonder years chasing self, reaches far, didn't reach back. Then Paul says I press. This word press in the Greek, it suggests that he's pursuing it. He's pursuing it with power. He's pursuing it with might. He's pursuing it with energy. Where is Paul again? In prison. Locked up, beat sometimes, and it was supposed to take his energy. Paul, I got a question for you. Me and you will talk about this later on this evening. But Paul, where you get all this energy from? If life was supposed to zap the energy out of you. I'm quite confident this morning that if it had not been for God and his Spirit, that many of us have gone through enough this past week that could have taken every bit of energy out of you. And somebody this morning, somebody right now, You are tired as you can be. You're tired of fighting, you're tired of trying, you're tired of struggling, you're tired of believing, you're tired of praying. But God says today that, let me bless you with some energy to keep on going. And God says today that the true sign that I'm with you is not when I get you out,. But even when you're still in it, you still got the strength to keep on pursuing the best that God has for you. I want you real bad today to go home and make up in your mind, God, I still got some power. Keep on giving me strength, keep on giving me power, keep on giving me might. And if you give me the power, I'ma use the power to press. How beautiful it'll be if God's people— you see what's going on in the world, it make you want to quit, but keep on pressing. It seems like voting doesn't matter, but you keep showing up to that poll. It seems like eating better won't help, but you just keep on trying. It seems like the doctor's visit don't work, but you keep on showing up and saying, doctor is going to be you, but ultimately it's going to be God. So I'm here to let you know what God is going to do. I close. I've been preaching long enough. I'm trying to work on my speed. Here it is. We, we know these monumental buildings. I'm looking at the clock, it's my job. We have these monumental buildings: Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower, Sears Tower. These are some wondrous buildings and wondrous works. However, at its core, Honorable, these monumental buildings— I close— are made of steel.
I missed one, got curious, and found out what happens to steel.
I'm gonna try to explain this the best I can, but y'all know I don't do handy work. Steel goes through this process called forging. Y'all know what forging is? Take steel, they heat it up, and they beat, they strike. I've seen it on commercials, and it just spoke to me because steel gets stronger when it's struck. Before you see it in a marvelous building, it's gone through fire and it's gone through beating. Who wants that? Who wants to be heated? Who wants to be burned? Who wants to be struck? Still talk to him too. Still said, that's a good point, yeah, but it's something on the inside of me. The reason I let it happen is because the more I get hit, the more the atoms and molecules get bound together on the inside of me. And so that's why I just submit to it. And let them beat me and let them strike me, because what strikes me does not destroy me, but what strikes me makes me stronger. And it makes me stronger because I got a purpose in tomorrow to be something amazing that people are going to be amazed by. Come here, sweet children. Today God said, I allow you to be in tight places. I allow you to be struck I allow you to go through the fire, and instead of it destroying you, it brings things inside of you closer together. That way, when you come with what God has called you to be, people will see what God is building. When they were beating— when they were beating on you, God was taking you to build something. And I'm looking at somebody today I see you getting taller. I see you coming from the ground. You look like a beautiful work of art because the beating— God used that to make you better. I'm done. I'm trying to tell somebody today, you may be in— you may be struck today. You may be in a tight place. But I want you to have the audacity to still aspire even in the tight places. Let God beat you, let the enemy beat you, because God will take that, work it for his good. And those who tried to beat you, that spirit that tried to beat you, that spirit that tried to strike you, all the lies All the gossip, all the, all the dissing and all of that. God would take that and make something out of you if you would have the nerve to still press even while you're confined. We all for Jesus this morning. The only way that's possible is if you have the right thing inside.
All material does not get stronger by being beat, but it's something that's inside of steel that the beating makes it better.
I can see the steel now, say, I go through this for a little while, but I know I'm gonna survive, and when I survive it, I'ma look so much better. Than what you thought I was gonna look.
Let's give God praise for what he said, and I would like to—
